The tough choices were necessary for the Phoenix-based mining company's future success, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Quirk told an audience of business leaders Tuesday at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix.

"We didn't have to have a big strategic review session or a consulting group to come in to tell us what to do," said Quirk, the keynote speaker at the Association for Corporate Growth's Arizona chapter meeting.

Quirk, 45, has served as CFO of Freeport, one of five Fortune 500 companies in Arizona, since 2003. She played an instrumental role in structuring Freeport's $26 billion acquisition of Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge Corp. in 2007. More recently, she helped the firm shore up its strategy for dealing with declines in the commodities market.

The difficult measures, so far, have paid off: Freeport continues to invest in the development of a major copper and cobalt mine in Africa and its stock has been one of the highest-performing on the S&P 500 this year, Quirk said.

"Really, we had to cut costs," she said. "We had to move very quickly. We had been in a growth mode, spending money, just going all out."

Freeport, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, was hit hard last fall when copper prices fell from about $3.50 per pound to below $1.30 per pound.

The decline sent Freeport's stock down from above $120 per share last summer to below $20 per share in December.

More recently, copper is trading around $2.30 per pound, and Freeport's stock has traded as high as $58 per share.

Demand for the metal has fallen because of stalled economic growth in North America and Europe.

Freeport employs about 6,100 workers in Arizona, making it one of the state's largest job providers.

Since last fall, the company has eliminated more than 2,200 jobs at mines in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, shifting its focus to lower-cost mines in South America and its Grasberg copper and gold mine in the Indonesian province of Papua. Quirk said the company remains committed to its U.S. operations.

"We're very happy with the set of assets we have," she said. "What it allows us to do is have a flexible operating structure to be able to respond to different market environments."

While stimulus-related construction projects in China have helped boost copper demand in recent months, Quirk said the U.S. and European economies need to improve before ramping up production domestically.

More recently, the company's efforts have focused on Tenke Fungurume, an open-pit copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Freeport is the primary developer behind the mine, which began production in March, but the DRC government owns a stake in the project.

Social and environmental concerns surrounding its mines abound.

Currently the DRC is reviewing several contracts that define mining ownership terms.

The government wants to increase its ownership stake in the Tenke Fungurume project. But Quirk said the discussions do not hinder Freeport's ability to operate the mine.

The company makes great strides to ensure deals are fair to the countries in which it operates, she said. It also consults with independent environmental experts to properly dispose of mining byproducts.

At its annual meeting Thursday in Wilmington, Del., shareholders will decide whether the company's board should require at least one independent director with experience in environmental matters.

The company is urging shareholders to vote against the proposal, saying such a requirement would limit its ability to attract the most qualified directors.